Monday, January 27, 2014

Who's the Best Phillies Catcher of All Time?

With
Spring Training 2014 quickly approaching the boys gathered at the
Philly Pressbox for a few cold beverages and some baseball talk. We
recently posted a note that it was Mike Lieberthals birthday and
received both positive and negative comments about Lieby and him being
honored on the Phillies Wall of Fame. That led us to the conversation of
Who's the Best Phillies Catcher of All Time. We quickly decided on the
four finalists, Bob Boone, Darren Daulton, Leiberthal and Carlos Ruiz.
This pretty much covers the last 40 years of full time Phillies
catchers.

We're
going to provide some statistical information, as Phillies only, on
each of the four and allow you, the fans, to vote on your favorite. The
players are listed in alphabetical order.

BOB BOONE

Boonie was the Phillies full-time starting catcher from 1973-1981. He caught 100+ games in 7 seasons.

He ranks 2nd to Lieberthal in games caught in the modern day with 1125. He caught 100+ games 7 times

He is 3rd in Batting Average, .259, behind Lieberthal and Ruiz.

He is 3rd in Home Runs, 65, behind Lieberthal and Daulton.

He ranks 3rd in RBI's with 456.

Boone struck out the least of the four with 365 behind Daulton, Lieberthal and Ruiz.

Boone won 1 World Series with the Phils, made 3 All Star Teams and won 2 Gold Gloves.

Defensively Boone led the NL in these categories during his Phillies career:

Boone was traded by the Phillies after the 1981 season. He played 9 more
seasons, making 1 more all star team and winning 5 more Gold Gloves. He
actually played more games after he left the Phils than he did as a
Phillie.

He was inducted in to the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2005.

DARREN DAULTON

"Dutch" was the Phillies starting catcher for the Phils for the most part from
1985-1995 although he only played more that 100 game 4 times in his
career. His best 2 seasons came in 1992 and 1993 when he drove in more
than 100 runs in both of those seasons helping lead the Phils to the
1993 World Series.

Lieby spent the final season of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lieberthal was inducted in to the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2012.

CARLOS RUIZ

"Chooch"
took over as the Phillies full time catcher in 2007. He has been a work
horse ever since. He's caught more than 100 games in 6 of his 7
seasons. The only time he didn't was last season when he caught 92 games
after being suspended. He signed a 3-year contract extension this
off-season so his stats are a work in progress.

He is last of the four on the Phillies all time leader in games caught with 825 games.

He is 2nd in batting average to Lieberthal by .001, with a .274 average.

He is last in Home Runs with 57 which is 8 behind Boone.

He is last in RBI's with 336. He is 120 behind Boone for 3rd.

He has struck out the 3rd most behind Daulton and Lieberthal with 325.

"Chooch"
has won 1 World Series in 2008, made it to another in 2009 and made 1
All Star team. He has not won any Gold Gloves or Silver Slugger Awards.

12 comments:

I voted Lieberthal but honestly the difference between Boone, Daulton, and Liberthal are pretty insignificant. Each was about as valuable for the franchise and all three were good for them. Of course if you include non-Phillies work, Boone is way ahead of the others.

Poor Lieby - jusssssst missed a WS on either end of this career. But he was a stalwart through bad times and holds the record for most games caught. He's my guy. For now, at least. Lets see how Chooch finishes up who, despite lack of league leading, has been well documented as an excellent game caller and works well with many different pitchers.

Madson threw for an (unknown) team that supposably is the front runner to land him. - wonder if that was for Sandberg, Amaro & company? He will throw again Feb 7, which means he will likely get a minor league deal shortly afterward. He is likely the last reliever that the Phils will add to the mix.

Burnett is likely to sign with either Pirates, Orioles, or the Phillies. The Nats even though located in a favorable area are not likely to be interested. He would likely add a good pitcher to the rotation at $15mil+.

The offseason has no big splashes, but it has not been bad. Abreu, Byrd, Lincoln, Gaudin are decent options and have a better chance of being productive and fit to the team than last years pick ups such as D Young etc....

The fact that Lieberthal is leading this poll is an outrage! Stats accumulated solely by longevity (for example, most games caught by a Phillies catcher) mean nothing. The fact that he hung around that long is more a testament to the Phillies front office not being able to get (read: too cheap to invest in) a better catcher.

Lieberthal, along with Bobby Abreu (another stat collector) and Randy Wolf were the poster children for the country-club/just-happy-to-be-here-and-collect-a-paycheck atmosphere that existed on the Phillies during the late 1990s & early 2000s.

I would have expected the fans on this blog to demand better of their Phillies than that, but I guess not.